When professor Bryan Kirschen was asked to set up an online Ladino course by the Sephardic Jewish Brotherhood of America last spring, he thought he would get a handful of students. “It was incredible,” said Kirschen, professor of Spanish and Linguistics and co-director of the Ladino Collaboratory at Binghamton University in upstate New York. “The pandemic opened new doors, virtual doors, so to speak, and that’s been a really positive thing,” Kirschen said. “There are two ways you can teach Ladino, as an endangered language or living one,” says Kirschen. Senior citizens who had grown up in Ladino speaking homes have found a new way to reconnect with their heritage.

Source: The North Africa Journal March 26, 2021 13:27 UTC